Sunday Ugly Gun

S&W 25-2 45ACP Custom Short Barrel Revolver

"The barrel and cylinder has been thoughtfully shortened to reduce bullet jump, resulting in a revolver with a 4" barrel and the overall length of a 3 1/2" gun. The work is obviously well done. It looks odd with the shortened cylinder, but it is a great idea."

Must have been pretty inaccurate to start with, if that jump was causing that much of a problem in the stock model:

"Every gunny knows the history of the 1917 revolver. How American industry couldn't build enough Colt 1911 .45 automatics for the handgun-intensive trench warfare the nation had just entered, and how Smith & Wesson came up with half-moon clips that would allow their large frame revolver and Colt's to handle the rimless auto pistol cartridge.

Countless 1917 revolvers served in WWII as well. S&W subsequently produced it in small quantities as their commercial grade Army revolver, but always enjoyed more success with its target version, dubbed the 1950 Model. Auto pistol technology of the time had not yet made a .45 auto as accurate as a target revolver easily available, nor one with a very light trigger that would last a while and still be safe.

Many a civilian target shooter chose to thumb-cock the S&W 1950 Target for each shot, taking advantage of its good accuracy and easy single-action trigger. Among these was a WWII Marine sniper named Jim Clark. He convinced S&W to incorporate a few refinements, including a heavier, untapered barrel, and the 1955 Target was born. A couple of years later, when Smith & Wesson adopted numbers for all models, this fine sixgun became the Model 25.
Along the way, Jim Clark, had become the first private citizen to win the overall National Championship of conventional handgun shooting at Camp Perry. If memory serves, he shot the .45 stage at that memorable event with a Smith & Wesson Target revolver."

From: Guns Magazine Date: 9/1/2002 Author: Ayoob, Massad

Then again, maybe not.

An intact specimen: